Final answer:
Antigone's actions in Sophocles' play criticize the patriarchy by defying gender roles and asserting her moral agency against the male authority of Creon, exemplifying early feminist criticism and questioning the justness of ancient Greek social norms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Both Eve from the Biblical narrative and Antigone from Sophocles' play can be examined as feminist precursors. Antigone's actions, in particular, criticize the patriarchy by challenging gender roles in ancient Greece, where women were generally expected to be submissive and not question male authority. In Antigone, the titular character defies the edict of Creon, the male ruler, to follow what she believes is an eternal and moral law that transcends human law: the duty to bury her brother. Her refusal to comply with Creon's decree reflects a resistance to the subjugation of women and their exclusion from public and moral decision-making. This is a critique of the patriarchy because it reveals how Antigone, as a woman, must act outside the prescribed social norms to claim agency and uphold divine laws, suggesting that such norms are unjust and should be contested.
Feminist literary criticism explores how literature can reflect, reinforce, or resist gender norms. In Sophocles' Antigone, the central character exemplifies an early form of feminist criticism by opposing Creon's patriarchal values, suggesting that women, too, can possess qualities like strength, decisiveness, and moral clarity. Antigone's firm stance on her moral obligations, despite the lethal consequences, underscores the limitations of a social order that dismisses women's voices and moral capacities. Thus, her character becomes a powerful critique of the patriarchal structures that dictate and limit women's roles in society.